Abortion critics are wary of delaying Illinois' parental notification law

State group that extended grace period is led by abortion-rights advocate

November 04, 2009|By Sara Olkon, Tribune reporter

Abortion opponents are crying foul over an 11th-hour decision by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation to further delay enforcement of a parental notification law.

Enforcement, set to begin Tuesday, would require physicians to notify a parent or guardian when a girl 17 or younger seeks an abortion.

But late Friday, officials with the regulation department announced they would delay enforcement of the law until at least Wednesday, when its medical disciplinary board meets. The agency had already granted a 90-day grace period in August, after a federal appeals court in Chicago lifted an injunction on the 1995 law.

The state agency defended the latest delay, saying a majority of the board recommended it to ensure the judicial waver process is accessible to all young women and girls, a statement said.

A provision in the law allows patients to bypass parental notification by going before a judge. Lawyers for the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois have raised questions about whether courts in some jurisdictions, mainly rural areas, are prepared for the waiver process.

The disciplinary board could decide Wednesday to begin enforcement or extend the grace period.

Critics of the delay note that the new secretary of the regulation department, Brent E. Adams, is a member of Personal PAC, which focuses on electing abortion-rights candidates in Illinois.

"This is the proverbial fox guarding the henhouse," said Peter Breen, executive director and legal counsel of the Thomas More Society, which opposes abortion. "It looks terribly conflicted for this secretary to be saying a law that is detrimental to all of his friends, he will ignore until some future date."

Susan Hofer, a spokeswoman for the regulation department, said Adams was not involved in the decision to extend the grace period.

The disciplinary board meeting, which is open to the public, is set for 9 a.m. in the department's Chicago office, 100 W. Randolph St.